The present invention is directed to an arrangement for coupling an optical fiber to a coupling window of a planar integrated optical component for incoupling and outcoupling of optical waves into and out of the planar integrated optical component, which is disposed on a substrate, particularly a planar integrated optical waveguide. The invention is also directed to the method of making the arrangement.
Properties of fiber-optical signal transmission links are co-defined by the quality of the optical coupling of the glass fibers to the transmission and reception modules. Since the light wave guided in the fiber usually comprises a lateral mode expanse in the .mu.m region, an appropriately exact adjustment of the elements relative to one another is required. Given single-mode, integrated waveguides on a III-IV semiconductors, the allowable lateral adjustment tolerances can also shrink to far below the 1 .mu.m because of the shortness of the light wavelength.
Previous arrangements of low-loss coupling are usually matched to the demand of a hybridly constructed module. The fiber and optical component to be coupled are each mounted on a respective sub-carrier, namely together with a coupling optics respectively required for mode matching. It can be composed of a fiber taper having a contact lens, such as disclosed in an article by R. Keil et al Entitled "Coupling Between Semiconductor Laser Diodes and Single-Mode Optical Fibers", Siemens Forschungs -und Entwicklungsberichte, Vol. 13, (1984), No. 6, pp. 284-288. The coupling optics can also be composed of spherical or, respectively, gradient lenses, as disclosed in an article by H. Karstensen et al Entitled: "Linsenoptik fur Lasermodule mit Monomode-Anschlubfaser" Siemens Forschungs - und Entwicklungsberichte, Vol. 6, (1987), No. 4, pp. 141-146. The sub-units hereby defined are then firmly soldered relative to one another on the main carrier directly after adjustment. The possibility in this method of initially inspecting the sub-units separately and readjusting them during mounting can be advantageous, but must be paid for with space requirements for coupling locations and mounting outlays.